"European cities are struggling to deal with the ongoing impact of the migration crisis, especially when it comes to providing migrants with decent public services. We urgently need to set up a fair and effective asylum system, based on solidarity and burden-sharing. Only together can we face this structural crisis", told PES member Enzo Bianco, Mayor of Catania (Italy) members gathering at today's CoR plenary session, pleading for a clearer focus on migrant's rights, and in particular of unaccompanied minors.
His draft opinion on the Reform of the Common European Asylum System - Package II and a Union Resettlement Framework was backed – against the firm opposition of the ECR Group - by an overwhelming number of CoR members.
In line with his opinion on the first part of the package (adopted at the December 2016 plenary session), Mr Bianco makes a number of proposals for changes to the second European Commission’s legislative package, as well as a series of recommendations to it, including:
- Strengthening the protection of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, by making sure that they are represented by an independent "guardian" throughout the relevant legal procedures;
- Taking into account family ties as well as language and professional skills in order to determine the Member State responsible for examining an asylum request, in order to maximise asylum seekers' chances for a speedy integration;
- Adopting a critical stance on the introduction of the regular review of the reasons for international protection, as these reviews may cause insecurity for applicants and at the same time increase the burden on local and regional authorities, making the integration of refugees more difficult;
- Questioning the legitimacy of introducing a maximum time limit for international protection;
- Calling for independent information (from NGOs, for instance) to be considered in determining the situation in different countries of origin when assessing the entitlement for international protection;
- Allowing a longer period of time than that provided for in the Commission proposal (e.g. six months) to obtain a residence permit on other grounds in the event of withdrawal of international protection;
- Taking into account family ties as well as language and professional skills in order to determine the Member State responsible for examining an asylum request, in order to maximise asylum seekers' chances for a speedy integration.
